BTN LiveBIG: Focus on NU's global outreach

Posted 2 years ago

BTN’s new series, BTN LiveBIG, continues Wednesday with stories from Northwestern University, including the university’s first international branch in Qatar, NU-Q. The program will air at 11 PM CT/Midnight ET on Wednesday.

The episode will discuss how Northwestern is giving students in Doha, Qatar, the chance to earn degrees in journalism and communications through its first international branch, NU-Q. Northwestern partnered with the Qatar Foundation to open the campus in 2008. Its vision is that the journalists and media professionals who have studied at the university will help bring stories from the Middle East to the rest of the world. The Qatar Foundation offers branch campuses of eight international universities, delivering world-class programs chosen to ensure Qatar is equipped with essential skills. There are more than 150 students currently studying at NU-Q.

The episode will also include how Northwestern is connecting immigrants and refugees with others in their communities through Immigrant Connect, an online network where immigrants and refugees share their stories and connect with their local communities. Medill School of Journalism students are also collecting stories reported by local Chicago-area ethnic media, translating them, and disseminating them throughout other immigrant communities. Immigrant Connect also offers a place on its site for people to tell their own stories and connect with others.

In addition, viewers learn about two-time All-American and former pro tennis player Katrina Adams and how she combines her love of tennis, education and service with the Harlem Junior Tennis & Education Program. Also, viewers learn about SCAPE (Serving Communities and Promoting Engagement), the largest service project in NU history. It is a service day for all new students during Wildcat Welcome in the fall. More than 2,400 students volunteer in the local Evanston and Chicago-area communities.

Ahlam Ahmed Mahmoud arrived in Chicago in 2008 after fleeing from Iraq. She later found comfort in the work of Northwestern University’s Immigrant Connect Program.

The first graduating class of NU-Q look on at their commencement ceremony in 2012

In 2012 the first class graduated from the Northwestern Qatar Campus.

NU-Q students Sara Al Saadi, Latifa Al-Darwish & Maaria Assami co-directed, Badar, a documentary that won best film and the Tribeca Film Festival in Doha.

Northwestern University is one of 6 American Schools that operates a campus in Qatar’s Education City.

Northwestern University Sophomore, Saron Strait, interviews an immigrant who now calls the Chicago-land area home, through Northwestern’s Immigrant Connect class.

Northwestern students discuss powerful stories of immigrants in their Immigrant Connect class.